Marketing news

• 'Less walled gardens and more open data': Adbrain marketing chief's Programmatic Punch ring-side commentary

  08-11-2016 22:22
  
  Ed Chater, chief marketing and chief security officer, at adtech outfit Adbrain, would aim his punches at the industry's walled garden providers for encouraging the internet economy to develop in yet more silos, whenever it is more open data that's required for it to continue as a largely ad funded medium.
  "With more consolidation on the horizon for our industry with mega-deals like AT&T and Time Warner, this issue will continue to dominate our industry," says Chater, speaking with The Drum
  
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• Chivas Regal is accepting applications for its $1m social good startup competition, The Venture

  08-11-2016 20:56
  
  Since 2014, Chivas Regal has set aside $1m each year to give to startups that are driving positive change in the world. The whisky brand is now gearing up for its third annual contest, which has been dubbed The Venture, and is asking social good startups across the globe to submit their applications.
  The Venture is open to startups in 33 countries, with winning entrants in each country progressing to the global finals. The global finals kick off in March of 2017 with an Accelerator Week in the U
  
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• Facebook brings ads to Messenger

  08-11-2016 19:03
  
  Facebook is rolling out ads on its news feed that open directly into Facebook Messenger chats, giving brands the opportunity to go from mass targeting to one-to-one conversations in a single click.
  The development will offer consumers a native brand experience, mixing customer service and storytelling in a way that also benefits the bottom line, according to Facebook vice president of messaging products David Marcus, speaking to Marketing Week at Web Summit in Lisbon today (8 November
  
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• CNN’s Great Big Story chases luxury content spend with Hyundai Genesis partnership

  08-11-2016 18:36
  
  CNN-owned Great Big Story is bolstering its content and advertising offerings by launching a new channel, Origins, as part of a year-long partnership with Hyundai’s luxury car brand Genesis.
  The channel is designed to explore the history of things, from design to food to pop culture, and as such slots “seamlessly” with a Genesis brand integration, which will see it align the DNA of the luxury brand with the storytelling element of Great Big Story, according to Sunita Rajan, sen
  
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• Seat hires C14torce and Droga5 ahead of 'biggest' product offensive

  08-11-2016 18:16 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Seat, the Volkswagen Group marque, has appointed C14torce and Droga5 London as part of a group-level decision to invest in the brand and increase sales.
  
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• Apple News rivals Google and Facebook for traffic

  08-11-2016 18:13 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Apple News is already "bigger" than Google and Facebook in driving page views for some publishers.
  
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• Peugeot owner calls UK review of CRM business

  08-11-2016 18:07 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  PSA Group, owner of Peugeot, is reviewing its UK CRM business across its brands as it looks to launch more than two dozen models over the next five years.
  
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• Why ease is The Donald's Trump card

  08-11-2016 17:51
  
  Love or loathe Donald Trump, (I’m the latter), it’s worth scrutinising his techniques to investigate how he’s been successful.
  While Hillary is eminently qualified to be president, Trump’s shtick is proving persuasive. A grammatical and vocab analysis of Trump’s speeches pegged them at 5th Grade High School complexity, and other candidates at 8th to 10th Grade. While many see Trump for what he is, people are swayed by simple language and ideas.
  What Trump does well
  
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• Better design for the smart home: No more routers please!

  08-11-2016 17:30
  
  Look at your router – it looks like a router, right? Now look at your doorbell – it probably looks like a router or, worse, an air freshener.
  A lot of ‘smart’ products have focused first and foremost on cramming in all the latest technology, with design and how people interact with them an afterthought at best.
  But some of the startups we’ve been working with at Paved With Gold are proving that there is demand out there for better design and are now making technolog
  
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• Argos: Sentimental Christmas ads are too samey

  08-11-2016 17:25
  
  Overly nostalgic and sentimental Christmas ads might have had their day, according to Stephen Vowles, marketing director at Argos.
  The headline Argos Christmas TV ad, created by CHI & Partners, features ice skating yetis and uses the folklore that the mythical creatures move twice as fast as humans to highlight the retailer’s Fast Track Same Day delivery service. In the ad, the yetis wear VR headsets while racing alongside toy versions of Star Wars droid BB-8.
  The campaign will be sup
  
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• Hefty trashes US political ads with ad blocking advertisements

  08-11-2016 17:23
  
  Hefty, known for their storage and disposal products, decided to “clean up” the internet with Havas Chicago, through a digital campaign that removed political ads on the top of news websites. By taking down the political banter, the brand replaced the spots with Hefty ads that say, “This political ad has been trashed thanks to Hefty.”
  From November 3rd, Hefty’s ads have run on Fox News, AOL and the Huffington Post Politics page. The campaign ends today.
  Hefty also t
  
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• Boots spares a thought for women who work at Christmas

  08-11-2016 17:23 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Boots' Christmas campaign sees the retailer put on a treat for real women who work on Christmas Day in an attempt to show how beauty products make thoughtful gifts.
  
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• Clinton v Trump: Who has won the battle for search visibility?

  08-11-2016 17:17
  
  As the world anxiously awaits the results of the 2016 presidential election, data from SEO firm Searchmetrics indicates the race for search visibility is perhaps too close for comfort, too.
  In fact, according to analysis of the official campaign websites, while Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton has the lead in terms of SEO visibility, Searchmetrics’ measure of how often and how prominently a site appears in search results, Republican rival Donald Trump is ahead on what Searchmetrics cal
  
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• If Trump wins, Swedish agency will hire disgruntled Americans

  08-11-2016 17:07
  
  For those not moving to Canada after the election, Swedish agency Round & Round says it will hire disgruntled Americans if Trump wins the election.
  The company cited TheHill.com in stating that one in four Americans would consider leaving the country if Donald Trump was elected president in the November 8 election. So it devised “The Great Trump Escape” to attract Americans in the creative industry. The website stated the reason for its existence.
  “As a Stockholm based agen
  
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• SAG-AFTRA gaming strike could drag on

  08-11-2016 17:03
  
  The SAG-AFTRA strike against the video game industry is three weeks in and it looks like it could stretch out for weeks or even months, as both sides are no closer to reaching a resolution.
  Deadline.com is reporting that the companies are so far unwilling to compromise on the key issue of residuals and roughly 400 SAG-AFTRA members picketed WB Games, Inc. and Voiceworks Productions, Inc. in Burbank, Calif. In addition, the actors union has claimed that the 11 video game corporations that are tar
  
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• Bauer Media's Tom Curry heads to AOL UK as head of trading

  08-11-2016 16:55
  
  AOL UK has appointed Tom Curry as its head of trading, where he will report to commercial director Gavin Johnson.
  Curry will manage AOL UK’s trading relationships; the appointment follows the recent promotion of John Baylon to head of advertising, AOL International.
  Previously head of trading at Bauer Media, he was responsible for developing the strategic commercial plans and driving trading agreements across digital, radio, magazines and programmatic platforms.
  Curry said: "I am delighted
  
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• Channel 4: ‘Diversity sells and we’ve proved it’

  08-11-2016 16:53
  
  Channel 4 claims Mars saw positive sales results after winning its Superhumans Wanted competition and producing three ads that championed diversity and disability.
  The broadcaster launched the competition earlier this year, offering the winning brand £1m of commercial airtime throughout the Rio Paralympics. Every pitch had to prominently feature disabled talent and issues. Channel 4 expected between 20 and 30 applicants, but saw nearly 100 brands and agencies enter the competition.
  Maltes
  
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• Boots takes emotional route with Christmas ad celebrating working women

  08-11-2016 16:44
  
  Following last year’s upbeat ad set to Jessie  J’s version of ‘The man with the bag’, Boots has returned to its traditional, emotional roots with a Christmas ad that celebrates women who are working over Christmas.
  The ad introduces itself with the figure that half a million people have to work on Christmas day. It then goes on to show a number of women who have to work over Christmas, including paramedics, firefighters, volunteers, nurses and carers who all &l
  
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• Boots’ Christmas ad celebrates working women

  08-11-2016 16:44
  
  Following last year’s upbeat ad set to Jessie  J’s version of ‘The man with the bag’, Boots has returned to its traditional, emotional roots with a Christmas ad that celebrates women who are working over Christmas.
  The ad introduces itself with the figure that half a million people have to work on Christmas day. It then goes on to show a number of women who have to work over Christmas, including paramedics, firefighters, volunteers, nurses and carers who all &l
  
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• Pitch update: Molson Coors, Mars, Natural History Museum, Women's Equality Party

  08-11-2016 16:30 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Molson Coors is holding chemistry meetings with eight agencies about the ad account for Carling, one of the UK's best-selling lagers, next week.
  
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• Is Three’s network-level adblocker the precursor to an ‘acceptable ads’ programme?

  08-11-2016 16:25
  
  After months of speculation, the aim of Three’s network-level adblocker is clearer. The mobile operator wants to use the adblocking tech to help filter ads that it and the industry agree are acceptable. 
  It’s not quite the outcome some observers predicted when Three first revealed its partnership with adblocking company Shine Technologies at the start of the year. Despite the scepticism, Three has always maintained it isn’t out to destroy mobile advertising, rather it want
  
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• Digital landfill - how brands can become part of our online culture

  08-11-2016 16:21
  
  It’s 2016, Prince is dead and a racist billionaire is running for president. And that’s just IRL. Online, a single click offers us everything from one-hour delivery to exploding body parts, goat porn, and spoilers for the next Star Wars. Most brands can’t even get cut-through in their own category, let alone compete with memes about Harambe.
  The internet has established itself as a place of extremes, where the discourse and content continues to push the boundaries of our collec
  
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• Blue 449 captures Weight Watchers

  08-11-2016 16:14 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Weight Watchers has handed its estimated £10m media planning and buying account to Blue 449 - a move that means Publicis Groupe will now oversee both creative and media for the weight-loss business.
  
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• Wireless promotes Taunton to CEO

  08-11-2016 16:12 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Scott Taunton, the chief operating officer at Wireless Group, has become its chief executive.
  
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• How daily stand up meetings can change the office dynamic

  08-11-2016 16:11
  
  In an attempt to improve communication and drive in the workplace, agile marketing teams meet daily with a focus on maintaining momentum for all team members on all tasks.
  Usually referred to as the daily stand up, or daily scrum, this meeting is facilitated by an individual whose primary responsibility is to enable successful and ongoing productivity from the agile marketing team (usually called the scrum master).
  Taking place in the morning, it includes all active members of the agile marketin
  
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• Zenith urges rivals to 'keep up' with automated service

  08-11-2016 16:09 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Zenith has developed an automated media planning service that it says will radically shake up digital advertising.
  
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• MRM Meteorite promotes Foot and Whitson to CEOs

  08-11-2016 16:05 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  MRM Meteorite has promoted managing director Olly Foot and chief strategy officer Chris Whitson to joint chief executives as the agency proclaims a "new chapter" in its history.
  
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• UK Top Shazamed Ads: Lucozade's 'Crank It' spot shoots right to the top with a comeback

  08-11-2016 15:45
  
  Lucozade has made somewhat of a comeback this week by soaring into the top spot thanks to 'Crank It' by Kidiko and George Kwali.The uptempo track features various groups of athletes doing their thing to the beat of the song, which first scooped the top spot back in September .Elsewhere in the chart Missguided, Pretty Little Thing and House of Fraser have all entered, bringing in the first hint of Christmas.
  Shazam Chart PositionShazam Chart1CRANK IT Artist: KIDEKO & GEORGE KWALI Brand: Luco
  
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• MTV's 'Show some nerve' ad banned for encouraging danger

  08-11-2016 15:44 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  An ad for a cash prize contest tied to a movie broke advertising rules by encouraging teenagers to risk their safety, the Advertising Standards Authority has ruled.
  
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• Lester Holt hosts first look on Facebook Live at NBC News’s US Election Day coverage

  08-11-2016 15:31
  
  NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt took to Facebook live to show off NBC News’ new election center, where he will host Election Night coverage.
  During the video, Holt shows the viewers around the plaza where NBC News has been championing its political coverage.  During the day, NBC News and MSNBC will cover the election from its HQ in Rockefeller Center in New York City. As the building is lit in red, white and blue, a map will be broadcasted on the skating rink to track the red and
  
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• MediaCom’s Karen Blackett: ‘A Trump victory will have a negative effect on women in the UK’

  08-11-2016 15:30
  
  MediaCom UK’s chairperson Karen Blackett has spoken out against US presidential candidate Donald Trump, highlighting that a victory for the Republican party in today’s (8 November) election could undo progress against misogyny in the UK, as well as America.
  Blackett told The Drum she is “really quite worried” at the prospect of Trump entering the White House. “Throughout this entire election campaign his character has been revealed, [particularly] his derogatory com
  
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• Five bidders opt to save Vine from Twitter

  08-11-2016 15:18
  
  Social network Twitter is exploring the sale of its failed shortform video service Vine after announcing its impending closure in effort to cut costs in October.
  TechCrunch reports that the company has honed down ten bids to five with Japanese messaging app Line rumoured to be in the running for the app; it will likely not remunerate Twitter's $30m 2013 acquisition.
  As the closure was announced in October, PornHub claimed it would buy Vine. It is however, unclear if the company is in t
  
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• 'If you're a moving target how do you expect anyone to pin you down?': Why the 'Jack of all Trades' is often a cumbersome wreck

  08-11-2016 15:08
  
  Its 7.30pm, you’ve had a long week in the ad agency and your chat is running low. Following the crowd, you end up in a very crammed pub in Soho. You recognise some of the faces in the drunk, ruddy jam, smeared across the toffee wood bar.
  You end up talking to someone from a production company. They are several drinks ahead of you and are slurring their words. On hearing that you work in an ad agency they proceed to tell you that you are on your way out, you are on the way to extinction, no
  
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• 'If you're a moving target how do you expect anyone to pin you down?': The downside of being a 'Jack of all Trades'

  08-11-2016 15:08
  
  Its 7.30pm, you’ve had a long week in the ad agency and your chat is running low. Following the crowd, you end up in a very crammed pub in Soho. You recognise some of the faces in the drunk, ruddy jam, smeared across the toffee wood bar.
  You end up talking to someone from a production company. They are several drinks ahead of you and are slurring their words. On hearing that you work in an ad agency they proceed to tell you that you are on your way out, you are on the way to extinction, no
  
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• Facebook’s CTO on why he's betting big on AI, VR and bolstering internet access

  08-11-2016 14:57
  
  Earlier this year Mark Zuckerberg unveiled his 10-year roadmap for Facebook, with a view to building up its offering across three areas: connectivity, artificial intelligence and virtual reality.
  Speaking today at the annual Web Summit conference in Lisbon, Portugal, the social network’s chief technology officer Mike Schroepfer elaborated on how Facebook is accelerating innovation in these areas and what that means for the future of the company and the businesses using it.
  The talk follows
  
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• How chat bots are being used to help refugees

  08-11-2016 14:29
  
  Chat bots are lending a helpful hand in the refugee crisis thanks to Refugee Text, an on-demand service informing refugees of their rights in Europe.
  The refugees simply text ‘Hi’ to a mobile phone number to receive an SMS, or message the chat bot via Facebook Messenger or Telegram. The advice supplied by the bot comes from non-governmental organisations such as the Danish Refugee Council and the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), who upload the latest legal information dire
  
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• M&S cuts ad spend as it focuses on direct marketing

  08-11-2016 14:22
  
  Marks and Spencer (M&S) plans to keep “marketing costs down” by focusing more on direct marketing through its Sparks loyalty programme.
  M&S cut its marketing budget by 9.7% to £84.1m in the six months to 1 October, a drop it attributed to focusing spend around the launch of its loyalty card Sparks.
  But when asked during an analyst briefing today (8 November) whether M&S planned to refocus its efforts on fashion advertising in 2017, its chief executive Steve Rowe su
  
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• The $250m fall of Uber rival Karhoo is 'unforgivable', says insider

  08-11-2016 14:16 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  The unexpected shutdown of Uber rival Karhoo has taken its employees and its agencies by surprise.
  
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• Ride-hailing app Karhoo goes bust: ‘The financial situation was pretty dire’

  08-11-2016 14:08
  
  Obscure Uber rival Karhoo is set to close after burning through £202m of funding in less than a year.
  The ridesharing company failed to raise further revenue and has announced today (Tuesday 8 November) that it is “looking for the next steps for the business”.
  Karhoo, which operates in London, New York, Singapore and Tel Aviv, claimed that some staff operated unpaid “for the last six weeks in an effort to get the business to a better place”.
  The startup hunted
  
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• MEC's Hannah Blake joins Founders Factory

  08-11-2016 14:07 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Founders Factory, the technology start-up incubator and accelerator, has poached Hannah Blake, MEC's director of open innovation.
  
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• Thinking of heading for the (northern) border after the election?

  08-11-2016 14:06
  
  Every four years, those on the losing side of the presidential election claim they are packing it up and moving to the great white north of Canada. Most never do, but Canadians always have a bit of fun at our expense, like the campaign Canadian agency Critical Mass did with its “Move To Canada, Eh?” drive earlier this year.
  There were also stories about how Google searches for “move to Canada” had spiked during the election season. The Business Insider was one of several
  
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• Movers and shakers: The Daily Mail, Saatchi & Saatchi London, AOL UK, Snap and more

  08-11-2016 14:02 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Welcome to Campaign's weekly round-up of the hires, departures and promotions across the industry.
  
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• Black Mirror gains in popularity among top digital series in the US

  08-11-2016 14:00
  
  The creepy, digital-infused, intoxicating and Twilight Zone-style Black Mirror is back on Netflix and gaining in popularity. Here are the full insights from Parrot Analytics. 
  For October 27th-2nd Nobember, 2016 - Top 5 Digital Original Series in the US and Average Demand Expressions™:
  Stranger Things, Netflix: 16,541,757
  Marvel's Luke Cage, Netflix: 15,881,012
  Haters Back Off, Netflix: 8,746,635
  Narcos, Netflix:6,813,679
  Black Mirror, Netflix: 6,674,423
  Insights from P
  
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• Superdrug launches advertising review

  08-11-2016 13:59 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Superdrug is on the hunt for a creative agency to develop its TV advertising.
  
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• Oliver enters programmatic space with new media arm

  08-11-2016 13:52 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Oliver, the in-house agency specialist, has launched a media arm as it aims to take on agencies in the programmatic space.
  
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• Tough times for Toblerone: Mondelez denies axing iconic, trademarked design because of Brexit

  08-11-2016 13:20
  
  Toblerone has rolled out a new product design in the UK, ultimately reducing the shape of the iconic bar, and as a result, delivering less chocolate for the RRP.
  The company, owned by US food manufacturer Mondelez, took to Facebook to alert the public that it was faced with a choice, raising prices or reducing the volume of chocolate on two of its products.
  It claimed it is “experiencing higher costs for numerous ingredients”. Without explicitly blaming Brexit, the company referenced
  
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• Tesco says ‘Bring it On’ as it joins in on the battle of the Christmas ads

  08-11-2016 13:14
  
  Tesco has adopted something of a competitive rallying call to its Christmas ad this year with its ‘Bring it On’ campaign, which sees the supermarket chain continue to move away from one big ad in favour of several smaller spots spread throughout the period.
  The new ad sees the return of Ruth Jones, of Gavin and Stacey fame, and comedian Ben Miller who first appeared in the Tesco ads last Christmas.
  Continuing the light-hearted approach centred on humour and chasing pop-culture moment
  
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• Direct Line brand continues to drive group growth

  08-11-2016 13:04 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  Revenues for the company behind Direct Line are still being boosted by the brand's perfomance two years after a well-regarded change of marketing strategy.
  
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• Sport & Scandal: The Evolution of Sports Sponsorship – a new documentary from The Drum

  08-11-2016 13:01
  
  In 1988, Johnson’s revelations were a scandal. But now in a connected world, more and more sports stars are being caught for – and hauled up on – their misdemeanours. It’s a paradox: the amount of cash spent on sports sponsorship continues to rise in time with the risks of betting big on an athlete who is capable of slipping up.
  In this new film, The Drum explores the evolution of sports sponsorship with interviews from the likes of footballer and sports lawyer Eniola Alu
  
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• Orange brand film from 1999 predicted Hillary Clinton presidential bid

  08-11-2016 12:58 via campaignlive.co.uk
  
  A film created for Orange in the last millennium made a series of bold - and prescient - calls about the direction that politics and technology would take in the future.
  
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